Rose and Charlotte meet in New York, fresh from University and keen to explore all the city can offer. They form a strong friendship, linked through life, love and loss, until suddenly their lives start to diverge.
This book is touted as a great feminist novel of our times and that, in my opinion, is total hype. It's a solid enough novel of female relationships but it's nothing that's not be written before! To me, the characters are not inspiring, they are rather unlikable with a selfish hedonistic approach to life. The writing does depict this lifestyle in a tawdry way which fits. Luckily it didn't take a lot of reading but I was somewhat disappointed

Rose and Charlotte arrive in New York from almost identical backgrounds of near-poverty in New Jersey, being the only girl like them, needing to get out, and almost identical plans to become a hot writer on a music magazine then write books and get their names known. In fact they go for the same job: Rose gets it, Charlotte's her editor, and so begins half a lifetime of vying with each other but also being (eventually) the very best of friends, second daughters to each other's mothers, competing over the same man in different ways, but going to see bands (music is so important in this book, which I loved), having hysterics over nothing, wearing weird thrift-store outfits, editing each other's work, typing articles in the middle of the night and saving each other from dodgy situations.

We see them grow up and one of them gets what the other doesn't think either of them want or need, a well-off husband and a family, the other continuing to lead that rackety sort of life, working their way through men's beds and writing. When it comes down to it, is it better to have two published books or two houses? Two published books or two children? The book came alive in the early stages and again when one woman has children the other is very close to. At times, the bitter marriages got a bit John Updike-y, but what this book probably really is is Marilyn French's "Women's Room" for this generation of young feminists; well, young women.

I say this because we are shown the range of lives a woman can have, single, married, faithful, having affairs, having children, having abortions, having a career, having a marriage, being a home-maker, being a home-wrecker, taking from other women, giving to other women. Set-pieces have both women on stage at various points discussing aspects of love and womanhood. Our narrator mulls over the choices she's made and the undeniable superior importance of friendship. The most "political" thing she says she does is help her friend have an abortion, by lending her the money; I can see how this happens as they are almost exact contemporaries of mine, and if they hadn't hit certain books aged 17-21, and absorbed certain ideas, they'd have been caught between second wave feminism that was about to run its course and the Riot Grrl movements of third wave feminism which were a bit confusing and I think inform this book. On sexual politics and creativity, she updates Woof's Room of One's Own:

"It takes real work for a woman to sustain the creation of something outside herself that is not a child. Real will, because we are always going to be tempted in a way men aren't to wander off the road and find some place to get knocked up so we can relieve ourselves of the burden of trying to figure out what everything in life is really worth, and then, as a reward for this abdication of responsibility, get ourselves worshipped as if we'd climbed Mount Everest when all we'd done was let nature take its course. Men don't walk around with a door inside them that they'll constantly have to worry about - should I open it, should I keep it shut, does it lock, well, wait, if I lock it, can I call a locksmith to get it back open, how long does it stay open, what's the data on what happens if you've left it open for a really long time, can anything get through? Should I shut it or keep it open?"

As well as all this detail and thought and interrogation of feminism, this book is beautifully written, long looping sentences that go into stream of consciousness but can also be followed. From a description of being on the phone in two apartments that are situated like positions on a clock face around a central corporate tower to the Moon and its relationship to New York inhabitants to a discussion of the balance between producing art and producing children, it's just stunningly laid out.

I have left a note for the publisher about the use of an ablist slur which was jarring and inappropriate, hopefully that didn't make it through to publication.

Review out on 20 July on my blog: https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2022/07/20/book-review-carlene-bauer-girls-they-write-songs-about/

As a former journalist I was really excited to read about two female reporters living it large in New York!
I really loved the first half of this book, living vicariously through Charlotte and Rose who were living life large and on their own terms and, despite some setbacks, enjoying every minute.
Theirs was the sort of friendship other women long for and that was so fun to read about. I loved that it was set in the late 90’s/early noughties and the New York setting.
But for me, I found the second half of the book grew a little tedious for me hence the lower three-star review.

An engaging story, with well developed characters, and a building plot. I feel that it fizzled out towards the end, although this may have been the intention.

Thank you to NetGalley, Carlene Bauer

A raw and honest fictional account of the struggles of being a woman within society whilst navigating relationships, careers and friendships. I loved how her friendship with Rose was told through different life stages, which shows how they grew into different people over the years. Charlotte, the protagonist, wasn’t particularly likeable, but she’s written in a way that still made me root for her throughout.
The ending didn’t feel like there was enough closure, however, it makes it more realistic, so I loved it.

A story about friendship, coming of age, and living in NY during the 90s. A well told and riveting story, two fleshed out characters, a tightly knitted and well developed plot.
Even if it's a bit slow in the second part I loved this story and the characters.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Girls They Write Songs About beautifully describes the raw and messy relationship between Charlotte and Rose as they navigate their way through 90’s New York. As they grow up, they are challenged by their own creative ambition and what it means to be a Feminist.
There is a nostalgic tone that runs through the book and the characters are flawed, complicated and vulnerable. What I loved most about the book is what it has to say about timeless subjects, which will resonate with young women everywhere as it describes challenges that shape attitudes towards work, family, and friendship.

Girls They Write Songs About is a fabulous take on female friendships, ambition and the feminist realisation that the majority of us just don't want to end up like our mothers.

The first half of the book really grabbed me. I loved peering into the lives of these two twenty-something girls who were living it up in New York during the 1990s. It had the perfect mix of nostalgia for the time, without getting bogged down in it. The second half is reflective of the way the girls' lives pan out. Feeling stuck and unfulfilled, but not wanting to show it, the story line meanders paving the way for the ending.

I did really enjoy this book, but I felt it fizzled out ever so slightly at the end. But, I imagine that was the author's intention considering the feminist lens it is to be read through.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an e-ARC of this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

…We wanted fan mail. We wanted to be worshipped. We wanted lives full of purpose and free of regret…”
CARLENE BAUER – GIRLS THEY WRITE SONGS ABOUT

‘Girls They Write Songs About’ is the story of two best friends, Charlotte and Rose, and their relationship with each other, with their work life, and with the expectations of being a woman in the modern world. Charlotte and Rose meet whilst working for a magazine in New York, and although they do not get along at the beginning, they soon blossom into a true friendship as the book progresses.

This book comes under the genre of both general and women’s fiction. When we talk about women’s fiction we are generally talking about books that focus primarily on subjects women relate to within their real lives. This can vary from marriage, women’s rights, to having children. So, when we look at ‘Girls They Write Songs About’ it is very true to its genre, however, I wouldn’t go as far to say it is breakthrough women’s fiction. It is but a mirror of the modern female experience in a big city and having even bigger dreams.
Carlene Bauer has a very unique writing style, but it did confuse me at times. Sometimes her writing is too extravagant so that you have to reread sentences once or twice in order to understand how it fits into the paragraph. Not only this but, Carlene Bauer uses one word sentences which are too a little confusing. That is purely my experience with her writing style, and that is not to say it was poorly written, it was written beautifully, I just struggled with her writing style.

‘Girls They Write Songs About’ also touches upon some very controversial issues such as abortion and adultery. Throughout this book these two issues seem to come hand in hand. The main characters have multiple affairs and yet do not seem phased by them. This annoyed me, a lot. I couldn’t quite understand how people can have multiple affairs like this and not care for the detriment it is having on other people’s lives. Due to this, my respect for the main characters went downhill very quickly. I found it quite hard to relate to a person’s experience when what they’re doing is cruel.

I did not like the main characters, and the ones I did like were either fleeting glances or were ruined further on in the book. Now, I just want to point out how clever Carlene Bauer’s writing is here. We are made to like characters and then thrown in a complete 360 when we look at their morals and their behaviours. Throughout the book you believe this character is good and will do good, but later they break your heart. If anything Carlene Bauer is showing us the true human experience and does not back down from this. For that, I truly respect her as a writer.

I want to end on a high note, so, let me talk about Jimmy. Jimmy was my favourite character in this book by far. He was morally flawed, chaotic, but unapologetically himself. He was the truest character in that book and for that I respected him. What you saw was what you got. Nothing more, nothing less.

I highly recommend this book if you are looking for something quick to read and a little insight to human experience in its rawest form. It’s definitely a fun read, but, it’s not one I’m likely to read again.

An interesting reflection on the intensity of friendships between women and how they morph over the years. I enjoyed the writing style (although I'm less a fan of the dialogue without quotation marks trend) but I found it quite repetitive. Some of that is intentional, you come back around to the same thoughts and moments that altered a friendship. But I did start getting weary of it.

Overall otherwise it was an honest story. Even if I didn't love the characters, they felt like real people trying to navigate life. I think this one will do well.

I really enjoyed this read, it was fast paced and real that I couldn't put down. it was a brutally real reflection of womanhood and friendship. I really enjoyed it.